


Falling for you

by Ricky2511



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Fluff and Angst, High School
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:55:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25893247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ricky2511/pseuds/Ricky2511
Summary: Mike is a nerd. We all know that. El is a cheerleader. This is where the story changes.
Relationships: Dustin Henderson/Suzie, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	1. First day

Mike woke up late for his first day of high school. And really, that should've told him how shitty the day would be.   
He crammed cereal in his mouth because there was no way his mom was going to let him go without having breakfast.  
Then he had to put up with her taking his picture. He honestly didn't get the appeal.   
And then finally, after the morning from hell, he hopped on his bike and rode to school.   
Being late sucked. It meant attention and Mike had never done well with that. It also meant that his three best friends Will, Lucas and Dustin had gone inside and he had to walk into school alone.   
He found them in the office, where schedules were being handed out.

'Hey man, you're almost late', said Lucas. 

'Yeah I didn't wake up on time', replied Mike, preferring to not talk about his mom's shenanigans. 

'Go and get your schedule then. All of us have Mrs. Jones for first period'

Mike desperately wanted the same schedule, but he knew how arbitrary these things were. Heart in his mouth, he looked over it.  
It was just his luck, he had Mr. Fanconi for English first period. Not only was he not with the party, he also got one of the strictest teachers in the school. 

He walked back to his friends.   
'I got Fanconi.'

'Oh that sucks man', said Dustin.  
'At least we still have recess together', said Will, always ready to make a situation better. 

Mike knew he had no choice but to suck it up. 'Well see you later', he said and walked off in the direction away from his friends. 

Mike hoped against hope that high school would be different. He didn't hope for popularity. That ship had sailed long ago. But maybe he could be invisible. Nobody would bother him and the party and they would be just fine with that. 

Mike walked into the classroom and saw that most of the seats were taken up. There was one that was right in front of the teacher's desk and one just behind it.   
Now Mike loved learning but even he wasn't looking to sit right in front of Mr. Fanconi. 

And just as he was about to go and sit at the second desk, a girl pushed up against him and sat down.   
She sat down! At his desk! 

Okay so it wasn't actually his desk. But he was going to sit there! And this girl had just shown up out of nowhere and taken his seat. And now he would be stuck near Mr. Fanconi. Probably for the entire year, as teachers tended to fix seats that way. 

He was about to give her a piece of his mind when he stopped short. To put it simply, this girl was pretty. All chestnut brown hair and almond eyes.   
She was wearing a blue dress, almost to her knees, with sneakers of all things. 

Mike found that he couldn't stop staring at her. He couldn't even open his mouth to say a word. 

Just then, Mr. Fanconi came in.  
'Come on, come on, get to your seats. I won't tolerate tardiness'  
Mike realised he was the only one not seated and hurried to take his place. At the front. 

Throughout class, he couldn't focus on a thing Mr. Fanconi was saying. He was talking about the books they were supposed to read and a project that would make up a large portion of their grade. 

The girl behind him kept distracting him. She tapped her feet, or adjusted her hair or wrote way too loudly. And ever so often, a strange scene of lavender would come over him, probably her shampoo.

Mike didn't even realise that class was over until he saw everyone leave. He looked at his notes. They were a mess. This was useless. Now he'd have to ask someone for their notes. 

Mike just knew. High school was going to suck. 

Next period was physics, which Mike liked. And Lucas was with him, so he already had a partner. So that was great.   
Mike kept looking for the girl in all of his classes. Not because he was interested. No. No.   
It was just that he was curious. Right. Curious was the word.  
Hawkins, Indiana was not a large town. And Mike had never seen this girl before, which meant that she was new. 

What was a girl like her doing in a town like Hawkins? She looked more like she belonged in Indianapolis, or even Chicago.   
Why would she come here of all places?

By recess, he had not seen her again. He spotted Will and Dustin at a table and rushed to join them. 

'How was Fanconi?', asked Dustin.  
'Alright, not too bad yet', Mike replied, though he really had no idea how Fanconi was, seeing as he hadn't paid him any attention.

'Steve told me that he's a nightmare. He failed Steve twice', said Dustin.

'That could be because he's Steve. Jonathan said that he was just like any other teacher, maybe a little more strict', said Will.

They got into a discussion about Steve and his intelligence, which was not a topic Mike was interested in. Steve had dated Nancy for a bit, so he wasn't all bad. But even Mike had to admit that Jonathan was probably right. 

Mike tuned them out, subtly looking around for the new girl. 

'Hey dumbasses'   
That was Max.

She and Lucas had walked up and sat down without Mike even noticing. They'd been dating for over two years now. Mike had no idea how they'd lasted this long, seeing as all they did was argue. 

'Madmax!', exclaimed Dustin.   
There'd been a thing where Dustin had liked Max but she'd preferred Lucas. It had gotten awkward for some time there. But Dustin had moved on pretty quickly and there were all good friends now. 

'Seen the new girl yet?', asked Max

'Yeah she was in English', said Mike, tryingg to sound casual. 

'I had History with her. She seems nice', said Will. 

'Well she's the new police chief's daughter. El Hopper', said Max.   
'I bet she'll be friends with Stacey and Jennifer and the rest. They were all over her', Max continued. 

Mike's heart sank, though he didn't understand why. It's not as if she would become friends with him. Not as if she would come and sit with the party. She looked cool. She was super pretty. Of course she would be popular. 

'There she is. Wow she is smoking', said Dustin.   
And sure enough, El Hopper had walked into the cafeteria.   
Mike felt an urge to yell at Dustin to not talk about her like that. But he knew his friends. And if he said anything, he'd be teased mercilessly for having a crush on her. So he wisely shut his mouth.

As Mike watched, she sat at the table with Stacey and Jennifer. Troy, the asshole that he was, walked right up to her and started talking.   
Just like that! 

'Looks like Troy isn't wasting any time getting his claws into her', said Lucas. 

Mike hated Troy. He had made his life and the party's life hell all through middle school. He was a piece of shit. And now he was talking to El Hopper. 

Mike just knew his day was only going to get worse. He just knew it.


	2. It escalates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike's bad day gets worse.

The next class, just after recess, was Chemistry. Mike liked Chemistry, not as much as Physics of course, but he liked it just the same. 

Mike walked to Chemistry alone, the rest of the Party were not with him again. 

Mike was one of the first people there. He went and sat at one of the front desks. 

Other students slowly started coming in. Mike was busy in getting out his books and so didn’t notice when someone came and sat next to him. 

He caught a familiar scent if lavender and looked up quickly, only to see El Hopper next to him. 

And she was smiling. At him! 

She had dimples. Mile just about died. 

‘Hi, I’m El Hopper. It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself in English this morning’ 

Mike just gaped at her. She was talking to him. And she remembered him. 

‘Okay get a hold of yourself Wheeler. She sat behind you, of course she remembers. Doesn’t make you special’ 

‘Uh h-hi. I’m Michael. Mike. Mike Wheeler’ 

She giggled lightly at his fumbling. 

‘Hello Mike. Nice to meet you. Do you like Chemistry? I’m honestly not that great at it’, said El. 

Mike’s heart sank. Of course. Her new friends would’ve told her about his status as nerd and loser and she was just here to cheat off of him. 

Why else would she talk to him. Before Mike could figure out a reply, Mrs. White came in and he was saved from having ti save anything. 

‘Class, look closely at those sitting next to you. These will be your partners for the rest of the term’ 

Great. Just great. Now Mike would have to sit next to El Hopper for the rest of the term. 

And she would probably make him do all of the work and just take credit.

He looked over to see her smiling at him and managed to return a grimace. 

The rest of class went by reasonably quickly. Mike, having learnt from this morning, was able to focus and take notes properly. 

Class ended and El turned to speak to him.

Mike cut her off before she could say anything. 

‘Yeah you can look over my notes later. I have to go now’

And he walked off, without sparing her a glance. 

Mike was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. He had a few classes with the rest of the Party, and El Hopper was not to be seen.

So that was something at least. 

Mike couldn't believe that he'd fallen for her kind act. She was just like the rest of the popular girls, only wanting to use him for homework. 

He didn't know why he'd expected anything different. 

Will picked up on his bad mood in Geography. 

'Hey, you okay?'

'Yeah, just a little headache', replied Mike. 

He managed to somehow fool his friends that he was fine till they reached home. 

Mike's mom was baking cookies as he walked in. 

'Mike, how was the first day of high school? Did you make any new friends?', asked Karen, in an enthusiastic voice. 

'School was fine, mom. I just have a lot of homework', said Mike and walked off to his room. 

'But Mike, it's the first day. At least have a cookie', yelled Karen, as he walked off. 

Mike went and planted face down on his bed. 

He really could feel a headache come on and he was just not in the mood.

He wasted time listening to some music till dinnertime, till his mom yelled at him to come down. 

His dad was there, which was a rare occurrence. Ted liked working late and ignoring his family. 

Karen tried to make conversation. 

'So Mike, how did it go?'

'It was fine, mom. All of the classes seem easy enough' 

'And what about sports? A young man like you, sitting in the house like a lady. It's disgraceful', Ted cut in.

'Ted, don't talk to him like that', replied Karen.

And so it went. His parents started arguing, as usual.

Mike took the opportunity to run up to his room. 

Holly came in after some time. 

'I hate them. Why don't they get divorced!', exclaimed Holly.

'I don't know Holls. Just ignore it'

'Yeah I guess. Don't listen to dad's crap, Mike', she said. 

'Good night, Holly', said Mike, already done with the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys let me know what you think!   
> English is not my first language and I'm not American so some of the things may not be portrayed correctly.


End file.
